Impala taking a break

Impala rams form bachelor herds from July to January. These herds disperse around midsummer when the mating season approaches. Fighting among males increases during the mating season.

The strongest prove themselves to the females who instinctively know all that was discovered by Darwin and Ardrey about survival of the fittest and the territorial imperative; or simply behave according to the inescapable patterns that sustain their species.

When eating is done for the moment, the guys may take a rest among the bushes as here or groom themselves, removing ticks and other parasites from their skins. They will also groom each other, especially their heads where their own incisors cannot reach the irritations.

The solitary territorial males are more tick-covered as there is usually nobody to assist in grooming, unless the occasional oxpecker arrives, most welcome to feed on the rascals. Apart from impala, oxpeckers frequent only the bigger antelopes for performing such services (Riëtte, 2016).